Fluoride Stare

Confirmed 94,096

Part of a series on Conspiracy Theories. [View Related Entries]

About

The Fluoride Stare refers to the blank-faced, glazed-eye look that conspiracy theorists encounter when they start explaining their theories to sheeple. It's based on water fluoridation conspiracy theories that date back to the 1940s, however, the catchphrase wasn't coined until early 2016 on Facebook and Twitter within Flat Earth Theory circles. Also, the phrase became associated with an image macro of a crowd of people staring blankly at the viewer.

Origin

On April 15th, 2016, the Facebook^[1] group Flat Earth Matters shared a meme that had text in Impact font reading, "When You Mention Flat Earth And All You Get Back Is That Fluoride Stare." Over the course of six years, the meme received over 650 reactions and roughly 1,600 shares (shown below, left). Additionally, the image macro used in the meme was a painting by artist Alex Gross called Distractions,^[2] originally made in 2014 (shown below, right).

Spread

On April 23rd, 2016, Twitter^[3] user SuperSpacedad reposted the Flat Earth Matters meme in a tweet that earned over 90 likes in five years and also identified it as a newly formed catchphrase. The aforementioned tweet inspired writer David Futrelle to create a blog post^[4] on April 24th, 2016, titled, "The Fluoride Stare: The conspiracy theory catchphrase taking the flat earth by storm!" Additionally, David Futrelle tweeted a reply^[4] to SuperSpacedad with his own, adapted version of the Flat Earth Matters meme, earning over 25 likes in six years (shown below).

On November 16th, 2017, the Facebook^[5] page Grow Food, Not Lawns posted a meme that referenced the Fluoride Stare but used the Awkward Party Reaction image macro, earning roughly 1,700 reactions and 2,300 shares in five years (shown below, left).

By the year 2020, versions of the original Fluoride Stare meme had been shared so many times across platforms that it started to be recaptioned and redrawn. For instance, on January 12th, 2020, Facebook^[6] page Face The Truth used an image macro that had multiple Marvel, DC, Harry Potter and other movie characters inserted into the template, earning over 140 reactions in two years (shown below, right).

On April 6th, 2021, Instagram^[7] page welding_irony posted an ironic meme about the fluoride stare about woodworkers giving welders the stare, earning roughly 2,900 likes in one year (shown below, left). On April 17th, 2022, Instagram^[8] page pite.mp4 reposted a meme made by Instagram page sigmasauce (since deleted), which captioned images of Patrick Bateman, Ryan Gosling and others associated with Sigma Male and Sigma Stare memes, earning roughly 3,900 likes in three weeks (shown below, right).

Additionally, Fluoride Stare memes appeared on iFunny ^[9] throughout the early 2020s, as well as on TikTok. For instance, on April 27th, 2021, TikToker^[10] monstermashstd proclaimed, "New dance: the fluoride stare," in a video that earned roughly 22,200 plays and 2,300 likes in one year (shown below, left). On January 27th, 2022, TikToker^[11] leekycartier posted a video that referenced the Fluoride Stare, earning roughly 104,600 plays and 18,100 likes in four months (shown below, right).